CHS basketball teams head to conference

The Carpenter High School Spartans hosted their annual girls basketball tournament March 2 – 3 in Meadow Lake and when the final buzzer sounded, the host team finished the weekend with a record of two wins and one loss.

Meadow Lake opened play against Melfort. Prior to this game, Melfort held a 3-2 edge in wins versus Meadow Lake. Meadow Lake got off to a slow start but always kept Melfort within reach as they grew stronger as play continued. At the end of the first quarter Melfort held a 14-7 lead. By the end of the second, Meadow Lake’s strong defense gave them a slim 19-17 edge at half time. Both teams were fired up for the second half, trading shots and excellent defensive plays with the score 27-25 in favour of Meadow Lake at the end of the third. But Melfort kept coming and foul shooting came into play as the teams were tied 36-36 at the end of regulation. It was off to a five-minute overtime period in which Meadow Lake dug deep and recorded a 53-41 win to even the series between the two teams at three wins each.

In game two against Warman, Meadow Lake came out flat and lost by 20 points.

Meadow Lake closed out the tournament against Lloydminster Comprehensive. Despite a slow start, similar to that of the Melfort game, Meadow Lake continued to gain accuracy and momentum as the game progressed. At half time they went from being down 18-6 to leading 26-18. Shots continued to fall and the defence forced turn overs en route to a 49-31 victory.

“The girls are really happy,” said coach Andrea Halstead. “They said ‘Let’s play like that at conference.’”

Meadow Lake travels to Kindersley for conference play this coming weekend.

Boys play in Prince Albert

The Carpenter boys met Lloydminster Comprehensive in their opening game of Prince Albert Carlton’s tournament.

“It was a tight game all the way through,” said coach Jesse Shakotko. “Kyle Thompson hit two free throws with two seconds on the clock to win the game by two.”

Against NBCHS on Saturday, the team lost by 18. “They are probably the number one ranked team in the province and we played okay,” Shakotko added.

Meadow Lake then faced Moose Jaw Peacock and lost 53-46.

“We got into foul trouble early and that hurt us,” Shakotko noted.

Meadow Lake hosts conference play this weekend. Teams attending are NBCHS, Kindersley and John Paul II. The top two advance to regionals.